The Fallen Prodigy
by Kitsune incarnate
Summary: When Spike is dragonnapped, Twilight Sparkle has to go to the Everfree Forest to confront his abductor. When she arrives at her destination, she finds bad blood with an adversary she never really knew she had.
1. Dragonnapped

Chapter 1: Dragonnapped

All was quiet in the town of Ponyville. Midnight was crawling closer, the moon rising towards its highest point in the sky. All around the town, the ponies were asleep in their beds, the only sign of life in the actual town itself being the nightly creatures doing their rounds of flying, burrowing, or whatever it was night creatures did during their waking hours.

However, though everything was silent in the town, everything was not necessarily well or even peaceful. A lone shadow moved between buildings, carefully-placed hooves avoided even the slightest of sounds. The shadow slipped past the Sugarcube Corner, past the apple cart, finally appearing to arrive at its destination: the Ponyville Library.

The figure to which the shadow belonged raised a hoof, gently trying the door. Locked, much to its dismay. However the creature would not be dissuaded: A gentle glow appeared around its head, as a diamond lifted from its pocket. The gem slowly gloated over to the nearest window, and with the smallest of noises, gently tapped against it.

With expert precision, the diamond traced a perfect circle in the glass, the diamond cutting clean through. Though the glass began to slide out, the same glow appeared around the cut portion, catching it before it could find impact with the ground. The glass was placed inside the bag near the diamond, and the hoof from the figure reached through the new hole, gently unlocking and opening the window. Though the creature figured it would have been just easier to open the window normally, it wanted to remain as ambiguous as to its identity as it possibly could, if only as to not reveal its true self.

The creature peered into the window, glancing around the library. After a short bit, it locked onto its target, the dragon known as Spike snuggled up in its basket. A grin spread across the face of the thing, as another glow caused the sleeping dragon to levitate from its place of rest. Slowly, it was replaced with a letter of some sort, as the window closed, the dragon taken from the town by the mystery creature.

..dawn came soon after. The warm, inviting rays of the morning sun washed over Twilight Sparkle's frame, drawing her from her sleep. She had the sense something was amiss, but was unable to place it, possibly due to her just waking up. She rolled out of bed and stood on all fours, stretching, feeling the bones in her spine snap. She stretched a second time to make extra sure she had stretched away all of the stiffness, before heading to her vanity. Her horn glowed, as a similar aura surrounded the comb, causing it to levitate from its position. She yawned a little, as she let the possessed brush go through her hair, smoothing it from a bedridden rag to its usual bob with a long back mane. "Spike, can you get my book on Equestrian History? I really should pick up on that a little before today's activities.

Silence met her inquiry, causing confusion in the unicorn.

"..Spike? Are you here? Stop goofing around and come.. out.." Her voice slowed to a curious crawl, as she spotted the note in his bedding. "Did he go somewhere and leave a note?" she wondered aloud, picking up the slip of paper with her magic. She read it over once, as a look of fear spread across her equine features. "If you want to see Spike again, come alone to the cave in the Everfree Forest!" She paced uneasily back and forth. "Someone's dragonnapped Spike? What do I do.." She took a seat near her podium, and scratched her head. "... I could use the help getting him back.. but the note said to go alone.. if they find out I brought friends, then Spike.."

She mulled over her actions for a short while, playing out the potential scenarios in her mind. Two things were readily apparent though: 1, whoever kidnapped Spike was an expert. It didn't seem anypony who might have been up at night noticed and 2, she couldn't risk Spike getting hurt - she would go alone. Finally having gathered up her courage, she packed her saddlebags with a little food and a book or two on hostage negotiation, should the need for such a thing arise. With the fear in the pit of her stomach as strong as ever, she marched forward towards the Everfree Forest, hoping to make it before anypony had woken up.

She uneasily crossed the invisible border into the land. The sky disappeared beneath the canopy, dark shadows cast over the majority of the area. Fortunately, it was bright enough for her to see without the aid of magic, as she marched forward around the hazards she had grown accustomed to. The air of the forest had a sort of crushing oppression to it. Though she felt every fiber of her being telling her to just turn, turn and run as fast as she can she knew she had to press on, to save Spike.

A bit of a walk later, and she happened upon the rather familiar cave from not too long ago - the dragon's cave that Spike had hidden in when she'd taken in Owlowiscious. Was this the cave that the dragonnapper meant? She looked around, the uneasiness of being alone in such a place readily apparent in her expression. Her attention however was drawn to the top of a cave's entrance, as a familiar filled her ears.

"So, Princess Celestia's star pupil, we meet again! I was almost afraid you wouldn't show up." the voice said, laying heavy sarcasm on the star pupil bit. Twilight looked up, only for the source to jump right in front of her - a cyan-toned pony, azure hair tucked behind a largely stereotypical wizard's hat, save for its dark blue color and star pattern. Its cape blew gently with the air moving around it, though it settled on her back.

Twilight blinked, the concern quickly shifting to one of pure curiosity. "..Trixie?"


	2. Forces Collide

Ch. 2: Forces Collide

The opposing unicorn known as Trixie approached Twilight, the air of confidence about her heavy in the air. "Of course, who else do you think it would be?" She scoffed a little, yet gave Twilight a piercing glare.

Twilight took a few steps back. "Well I- but that means it was you who dragonnapped Spike and left that note !" The surprise was apparent in her voice, though her expression quickly changed to that of confusion. "..but why!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Trixie responded, a heavy tone of sarcasm to her voice, as she circled the unicorn. "I needed to separate you from the rest of your so-called friends. This is between you and me, and Trixie doesn't want any of THEM interfering."

Twilight gulped hard as she kept an eye on Trixie the best she could. So many questions were rushing through her head, very few which she could answer herself. Was she wrong for going out into the forest without her friends? ..maybe, but the letter had said to come alone - what if she brought the others and hurt Spike? But since it's Trixie, would she really hurt Spike? And why was Trixie back anyway? Was she angry over the incident with he Ursa Minor? It's possible that-. Her thoughts were cut short, as the blue-coated unicorn placed its forehead against hers, causing her to back up slightly.

"Trixie is going to make you pay for what you did, you worthless little foal. For all the pain you caused me!" There was a certainty to her words, which were laced with venom so powerful it could make even the largest, most fearsome of creatures from the Everfree Forest back down from their strength. Her eyes were filled with a rage unlike anything Twilight had experienced in her life, causing her to avert her gaze and back away - just looking at those eyes made her feel like she was being cut clear to her soul.

"I-I'm sorry.. if this is about the Ursa Minor thing, I really didn't-"

"The Ursa Minor? Do you really think Trixie is angry over THAT? Oh no no no." She stepped forward towards the equine, intensifying her glare. "This is about MUCH more than that stupid bear!" Her horn glowed, as the rocks and twigs around her lifted, aiming towards Twilight. "This is about me getting revenge for ruining my life!"

"B-but wait! We didn't even meet before then, how-" She was cut off as one of the levitating rocks flew by her, grazing her cheek. She flenched a bit, placing a hoof to it to stop the small trickle of blood that began flowing. Twilight braced herself - she didn't know what Trixie was going on about it, but she knew things were getting serious.

Trixie threw more of the forest's items at her, which Twilight dodged in a clumsy fashion. This caused a rather wide grin to creep across Trixie's face - her foe was nimble, but obviously not very athletic, something which worked to her advantage. A few of the items she threw met their marks, though they cased only light scratches.

Twilight took a moment to catch her breath - Trixie was skilled with her telekinesis, something she had forgotten from their last encounter. Whatever her reasoning, she knew that she was serious. She had to fight back, if not for her own safety then for the safety of Spike. Her horn glowed as she lifted the objects Trixie had attacked with and threw them back at blinding speeds aiming for her head. She didn't want to hurt her, but if she could at least knock her unconscious..

..but Trixie was already prepared for that as a puff of smoke appeared. When it cleared, the rocks and twigs had missed their target, which was currently standing above the cave's entrance again. 'Ha! You'll have to be faster than that if you ever hope to win against Trixie!" she taunted, jumping back down. Almost on-cue, one of the rocks flew back, smacking her in the back of the head, and pushing her hat over her eyes. Her horn glowed as she readjusted it, only to be met with one striking her in the forehead. This only seemed to infuriate her, as she slung the debris back.

"Wow, she's stronger than I thought.." Twilight muttered to herself, moving a piece of bark between her and the projectiles. "I'm really going to have to..." She braced herself, her horn glowing a bright shade of white. There was a rumbling noise, as a nearby tree was pulled from its roots. Twilight was already visibly sweating from the sheer amount of effort it took to muster this sort of power, but she threw the foliage at Trixie full force.

Trixie was surprised by the amount of magical force behind such an action, so much so that she barely had time to dodge what would have been sure to be a crushing blow. Some of the branches and bark caught against her, giving her some cuts around her flank and back, tearing her cape. "Rrrr.. you... .. Trixie is going to get you for that!" She screamed in rage, and charged headfirst at Twilight.

Twilight barely had enough time to catch her breath from her efforts before she saw Trixie right on her. Her horn glowed a bright shade of purple as she shielded her self with a telekinetic barrier. Trixie's horn glowed a similar color as they locked horn to horn, barrier to barrier. The two unicorns focused their power into the barriers.

"You're as powerful as she said you were." Trixie growled, pressing harder. "But the problem with YOU is that YOU don't know how to use your power. Not like Trixie does. You still don't have full control over it!"

Twilight flinched - was it true what she said? Had they known each other before and she just.. forgot? Either way, she knew Trixie was right. She knew a wide variety of magic, but couldn't exactly say she had a mastery over any one of them. She could barely even teleport a few feet at any given time. She had the power, but not the control over it, but that didn't mean she was going to back down.

The two unicorns continued pressing against each other, the raw magical energy sparking off and striking the landscape around them. They seemed to be evenly-matched - the raw power and focused power colliding with such violent outbursts that Twilight feared they might set the forest on fire. However, Twilight felt herself begin to waver, the overwhelming stress of the situation causing control over her power to begin to wane. She felt herself begin to crack under the pressure as her field began to destabilize.

Finally, it collapsed. Twilight's telekinetic barrier crumbled, but the equine hadn't the chance to react to this. Before she could even try to recollect herself, Trixie focused the magical energy she was putting into her defense and repurposed it into an enormous telekinetic blast. The force of it sent Twilight flying through the forest, literally breaking through a tree or two, before slamming into a large boulder.

The equine crumbled to the forest floor. Her body was sore from horn to tail, and she was sure she could feel a wet spot forming at the base of her skull. She tried to stand or even heal her injuries, but her body wouldn't respond. The fight had taken a lot out of her, and she would have to struggle if she were to at least manage to put up a defense.

She didn't have the chance, however. Trixie appeared on the scene. The unicorn slowly walked towards her, relishing every moment of her certain victory. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to do this." she spoke in a cold tone, dropping the stage act in lieu of an oddly-chilling regular way of speaking. " Here I thought I was finally managing to get over it in Ponyville, when your name popped up." Her horn glowed, as Twilight was lifted from the ground, pressed against the boulder. "Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn who replaced me as Celestia's star student."

Twilight coughed slightly, but managed to look Trixie in the eyes. ".. replaced..? I didn't.."

Trixie's horn flashed blue, causing a squeak of pain to come from Twilight's throat. ".. so here we are. I can't believe what an opportunity I had. You're so gullible, Twilight. Brave, but stupid." she spoke, her sarcasm returning for a brief moment before fading. She concentrated, and piece of circular glass appeared from beneath the unicorn's hat, breaking into a number of sharp pieces, slowly spinning in a circle around Trixie's horn as she neared Twilight. "So, Celestia's prized pupil. Any last words?" she asked, the same venomous quality to her voice.

Though a bit light of breath, Twilight managed to speak. "... I'm sorry ... I didn't know ... what I did to you. I'm sorry.."

Trixie closed her eyes. Twilight could sense an emotional pain welling up inside her adversary. "... 'sorry' won't undo what you did, Twilight. But your death is a good start." The shards of glass turned on an invisible axis, aiming straight at the injured unicorn. She almost fired the shards, when a powerful voice echoed through the forest.

"Stop, this instant!"

The familiarity of it caused Trixie to both drop the glass and her victim. The voice - it was familiar, one she hadn't heard in years. She turned slightly to look at its source..


	3. We Meet Again

Ch. 3: We Meet Again

Before Trixie's eyes, the alicorn known as Princess Celestia stood, her multicolored mane flowing in a way that defied the laws of gravity. Her roseish white coat stood out against the stark earthy tones of the surrounding forest, but perhaps the most outstanding thing was her expression. Gone was her kind, peaceful smile, instead replaced by a rather angry frown. She gave the unicorn a disapproving look.

Trixie, amongst other things, wondered how she could have known what was going on. She had taken every precaution: she did all of her work during night time under the cover of darkness and shadowed, she secured the dragon deep within the hold, she lured Twilight to where she thought was far outside of Equestrian borders. Where did she go wrong? "How did YOU get out!"

Her answer came in the form of a purple and green dragon, indeed the very one she had abducted earlier. It would seem that he had somehow been freed - perhaps during their fight - and managed to alert Celestia. how he did that however, she hadn't the foggiest idea. However, he did run straight past her, to care for the fallen Twilight. "Are you okay, Twi!" he asked, shaking her a bit, showing concern when the equine gave no answer. He gave a glare at Trixie. "I got untied when the tree broke the rocks you tied me to! Then all I had to do was send a message to the Princess using one of the scrolls I keep on-hand!" He returned his attention to Twilight, shaking again. "..Twi? Come on!"

Trixie snorted as her horn glowed again. She turned her attention from the dragon, to the alicorn that accompanied him. The look of the Princess's disapproving glare brought up a range of mixed emotions from deep within. Thoughts flew through her head at a high rate, including ones like: "Her again.." and 'How dare she look at me like this after what she did'. The conflicting emotions inside her began to broil, the old feelings of abandonment and betrayal of her teacher, her mentor, practically second parent coming to surface from their long-dormant state.

"...Beatrix Eleanor Lamia.. Of all the students that have attended my school, I never would have thought it would be the two of us that were at odds.." Celestia stated, her features softening from the fierce glare to more one of a cautious concern.

Trixie gritted her teeth. The emotions inside of her reached critical mass as it were, as her horn glowed. A dark cloud appeared, a good deal larger than the ones she had done upon her first visit to Ponyville, as electrical energy built up inside of it. "Don't call me that. NEVER call me that!" she screamed, the released emotions building up in the conjuring cloud. "You lost the right to call me that when you ABANDONED me all those years agi!" she snapped, sending a rather sizeable bolt of electricity towards Celestia.

Celestia's own horn glowed as she shielded herself from the attack, the lightniing bolt fizzling with the effectiveness of a spid wad. The unicorn's words seemed to bring confusion in her. "..abandoned you..? But I never abandoned you, Beatrix." She took a few cautious steps towards Trixie, shielding from the attacks.

The unicorn's magical thundercloud continued firing off lightning, the bolts lashing out at Celestia and the area around her. The emotions within her spiraled out of control, something that manifested in her magic as the bolts missed their mark with greater frequency, some causing small fires in the surrounding everfree forest. The years of pain and feelings of betrayal pushed Trixie to her breaking point, as tears slowly began to stream down her face, the unchecked emotions causing her magic to finally break and fizzle.

The feeling of anger over Trixie's actions began to fade away. Though her actions against Twilight Sparkle had angered her to a level she seldom thought she could reach, the pain she sensed in the Unicorn's heart quashed that anger. She stepped up to the pony, using her magic to gently set its hat aside. She lowered herself, resting her head on the unicorn's, using another hoof to hug Trixie around the neck. "Beatrice.. Although your actions are far from forgiven.. you have my heartfelt apologies. I never wanted you to feel like you were being replaced." Her tone took on more of a soft, motherly tone, as she gently pet the unicorn's neck.

Though she had reached her breaking point, the contact with Celestia caused her to completely crumble. She pressed her head against Celestia, crying her eyes out. She tried to speak, but words failed the previously-outspoken unicorn, as all she could manage to do was sob incoherently whilst Celestia tried to comfort her. The years of her pain were finally managing to dissolve away at the closure the princess provided.

...a few days later...

Night was creeping up on the town of Ponyville. In the treehouse library, Spike was removing Twilight's bandages for the last time. Though she had been hurt, the damage was fortunately mostly blunt force, and a bit of magic from Celestia's part and bed rest had caused her injuries to heal right up. Much to her surprise, Trixie was right there to help, and even gave a heart-felt apology for her actions.

As she sat up in the bed, she gently rubbed the back of her head, wincing a bit at the stinging. "Guess it's still a bit sore.." she muttered to herself as she headed downstares. Though she was about to dictate a letter to Spike for the Princess, much to her surprise she found Celestia standing right there on the ground floor of the library, Trixie nearby. "P-princess! .. ow..."

Celestia gave a warm smile. "My faithful student, Twilight.. you really should be in bed still. I just came to see that you were well on your way to recovery .. but I can tell by your chipper attitude that you're doing just fine. Though in response Tilight gave a large smile to the Princess, she gave Trixie a look of anger and frustration, though was surprised when Celestia moved to defend her.

"Twilight Sparkle, Beatrix is returning to me with Canterlot to resume her studies. She apologized for what she did." The alicorn smiled a little. "And she did much to atone for her actions. Don't you think you should forgive and forget?"

Twilight, though initially frustrated with Celestia's apparently easily-forgiving attitude, gave a small sigh and a smile. She was right - Trixie did seem like she was turning for the better. The unicorn made her way over to Trixie, and extended her hoof. "..Friends?"

"..." The other unicorn looked a bit tentative about the gesture, but a nudge from Celestia caused her to raise one of her forehooves, shaking Twilight's. "..don't think that this means this is the end of Trixie. I'm still going to be the post powerful unicorn in Equestria, even if it kills her! It pay be a ways away, but the day will still come when everypony in Equestria will stand in awe of The Great and Powerful TRRRRRRRIXIE!" She stood on her hind hooves, as little sparks and smoke puffs appeared around her. A sudden gust caused her cape to sway in the air. The actions caused Twilight to facehoof, whilst Celestia laughed, ushering Trixie out of the door after a farewell to Twilight.

As night came, Twilight walked over to the center of the room and sat, resting her tired legs. She had a bit of healing to do yet before she was at a hundred percent, but she knew she would be soon. She smiled a little, and looked around. "Spike? Take a note."

Spike blinked from upstairs. "Wh- a note? But Celestia was just here!" Genuine confusion filled his voice, but the Unicorn would not be dissuaded.

"Spike!"

"Alright, alright.." he responded begrudingly as he dragged himself downstairs. He sighed, and picked up a quill and piece of parchment.

Twilight smiled a little and nodded, before beginning to dictate: "Dear Princess Celestia. Today I learned that even though somepony may seem rough on the outside, it might be because of pain on the inside. I also learned that even if you start out the fiercest of rivals, even if they hurt you, in the end if you look past their actions you may end up making a new friend. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

And as Spike rolled up and sealed the parchment, a puff of his magical flame sent the letter to Celestia, who was doing her best to reacquaint Trixie with the old School for Gifted Unicorns.

In the end, they all lived happily ever after.

The End


End file.
